War of the Cats
by Willowmeow
Summary: Rabbitpaw is a shy medicine cat apprentice that was selected for the Games. In the Games, he meets some friends. How will the Games turn out? Will the odds be in his favor? This is Rabbitpaw's story.
1. Selected

I'm Rabbitpaw, now an official member of the Games. I didn't want to enter the Games; it completely breaks the Warrior Code. Defend your Clan, even with your life. You may have friendships with cats from the other Clans, but your loyalty must remain to your Clan, as one day you may meet them in battle. In the Games, 6 cats from each of the 4 Clans were selected to fight to the death. The Clan leader doesn't really defend those 4 cats chosen to enter the Games at the cost of his or her life. No, BoneClan is not included in those 4 Clans. BoneClan, the fifth Clan, rumored to be a made-up Clan. And then there's Code 14, which is defied by that other definition. An honorable warrior does not need to kill other cats to win his battles, unless they are outside the warrior code or it is necessary for self-defense. The self-defense part might be questioned, but it still defies it. Killing wouldn't be necessary for self-defense if there were no such thing as the Games. Why did Snakestar have to make the Games? I absolutely hate that former leader of BoneClan. He had no heart; well, if he did, it was full of ice and snow. I'm glad I'm not in BoneClan. They have a long history of murderers.

I now live in a hole in the ground, due to the fact that I am entering the Games. Nobody is allowed to talk to the Select, the group of cats that were selected for that round of the Games. Depression Code that Snakestar made up. It's very stupid. Code 1:You may not talk to any members of the Select. If you are a member of the Select, you may not talk to any cat, inside or outside the Warrior Code, until the Games start.

Yeah. Basically, no. I'll say that. No, the Games suck. No, Snakestar sucks. No, I DON'T WANT TO BE IN THE GAMES.

I'm in AirClan. Our leader is Swiftstar. The other members of the Select in AirClan are Dartwind, Flashfire, Windclaw, Jumpstripe, and Stormpaw. Flashfire is the best digger in AirClan. By the way, my mother is Cloudclaw, now the deputy, and my father is Sharpfall. I have a sister named Driftpaw and a brother named Eaglepaw. Lucky them, they aren't in the Select.

I eat leftovers,also due to the fact that I'm a member of the Select. Yeah. Being in the Games takes a lot away from you.

Us Select have developed a secret way of communicating. We're going to team, though in the Deathmatch, we have to kill each other. That is, if we even make it to the Deathmatch. It's really stupid. Did I mention that?

Oh, yeah. You're probably wondering how I even got into the Games. Every apprentice, warrior, deputy, and leader has to go to Tree Hollow to do this ceremony thingy. So the four Clans go to separate areas. The first six cats that their leader touches is entered into the Games. Yeah, really stupid. Did I forget to mention that everything about the Games is stupid? And then, BoneClan controls the Games from who-knows-where and who-knows-how. BoneClan leader... then I could stop the Games. That's a very pleasant thought.

The Games start tomorrow morning. The Select have to gather at Tree Hollow. And then, BoneClan will send in escort cats to escort us to their pre-made arena. Something like that. Oh, yeah, AirClan is the second Clan. The first is FireClan. The complete opposite of BoneClan, FireClan is full of cats wanting to stop the Games. I want to be in FireClan, the Clan that every cat wants to be in. Well, every cat within the Warrior Code and not in BoneClan. Typical of BoneClan to not want to join the one Clan that wants to start a battle between them. Just like Firestar, and how he fought the Great Battle against BloodClan and ShadowClan. Cats still talk about him. They talk about how sad it was that he lost three lives because of falling trees. Yeah. _Three_ lives. Out of nine lives.

They also say that Scourge, the leader of BloodClan, didn't believe in StarClan and wasn't bonded by the Warrior Code. No nine lives. Then, they wouldn't even be a Clan anymore! Or maybe BloodClan was just a made-up name for some random cats. And, seriously, dog teeth stuck in their collars? A kittypet? As leader of a made-up Clan for random cats who put dog teeth on their collars and who didn't believe in StarClan and wasn't bonded by the Warrior Code which meant that they didn't have nine lives? I'm sorry. It's just too much to take in at once when you are a warrior bonded by StarClan.

I totally can't wait for tomorrow. The day where I probably will die, even though the Games lasts for a few weeks. The day where Dartwind, Flashfire, Windclaw, and Jumpstripe, and Stormpaw will probably die, even though we have a rare Clan alliance. The day we fight to the death. The day that everything good is gone. Pure evil takes over most cats that enter.

The Select of AirClan has sort of found a way to squirm out of this mess. When we get in the arena, we meet in the center, kill some cats in the bloodbath to make BoneClan sure that we can be trusted, then make a break for it. A few of our allies will probably die in the bloodbath. Run for the outside of the arena. They have nothing to keep us in the arena. Anyone could escape anytime. They just haven't found out about the escape route yet. And we're not going to tell them.

It's almost nighttime. I had better get my rest up before the Games start. The Games is a lethal thing; cats have killed themselves just to escape the Games. In the Games, your enemies would probably leave you to a long and painful death instead of a quick and painless one. So much for justice and being an honorable warrior.

Well, good night. I'll see you at the Games.


	2. The Games

p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I was being raised by a platform. Now, I'm standing on that platform, ready to run to my death. I am so glad that we are next to our Clanmates who were selected. Then we know where they are./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I can hear Shadowstar's booming voice counting down. Shadowstar is the current leader of BoneClan, but most people call him the All-Knowing-One because he knows almost everything that is going on in the Games. I can't believe he supports this evil. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"If we step off our platform before the countdown ends, we explode. Drown. Bleed to death. Any horrific death you can think of./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"In two heartbeats, the 148th Games start. Yes, Firestar was a legend countless seasons ago. Who knows if that story is real? If it is, then it's been altered. Firestar obviously did /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"not/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" defeat Tigerstar, the leader of ShadowClan, who just received his nine lives, /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"and/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Scourge, the dog-toothed cat. And the enemies he defeated also includes the rest of BloodClan while the other cats fought ShadowClan. Yes, the other cats are the rest of ThunderClan, WindClan, and RiverClan. Firestar would /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"not/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" be able to handle a whole Clan of dog-toothed cats. It's been quite a while since his peace-making life has ended./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"One heartbeat. None. I run to the Cornucopia. A claw catches my flank, drawing blood. I don't yowl. I don't care. There could be worse injuries than a scratch in my flank./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I find a pair of battle paws, the claws sharp and gleaming in the sunlight. I slip them on, the hard metal scraping against my claws. Not a pleasant feeling./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"My body slams onto the ground as I try to run away from the Cornucopia. I contort my head to see the attacker's face./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It's Mudstorm of EarthClan. I know I can't get away. He's the deputy. I can see his scars from the many battles he has been in. A jagged scar runs down the side of his face, ruining his creamy white face. But there's no time to worry about that - it's kill or be killed. I begin to rake my claws down his side. I cringe when blood starts pooling out of his wound. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now's my chance to run. His strength is great, but he's not very fast. Not like AirClan. I reopen his previous face wound and dash away while he's yowling in pain./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"So maybe I can get away from even the best and most blood-shedding warriors. But there's one problem. I can't find Dartwind, Flashfire, Windclaw, Jumpstripe, or Stormpaw, and a group of three aggressive-looking warriors are charging me right now. It's fight or flee./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I flee. None of the warriors charging at me are fast enough; they weren't trained in the skill of speed. My paws carry me to the nearest tree and I streak up the tree./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The warriors skid to a halt right before they run into the tree. The warrior in front yells something about cowardice that I can't hear. She tries to climb the tree, reaching the first branch before falling back on the ground with a thud./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"One of the warriors talks loud enough for me to hear. He says, "Nice try, Fishpaw, but you won't be getting up that tree. You're too fed up on fish."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Fishpaw? I look closer and realize it's an apprentice. She's a lot shorter than the other warriors; maybe she's a newly appointed apprentice. It doesn't matter. She's obviously the nimblest of the group. She couldn't climb the tree, so the others probably couldn't./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well, maybe you could /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"throw/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" the fish!" I yell./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Fishpaw hisses, "Shut your muzzle, Streamfoot." She was clearly insulted. She claws her way up to the second branch, two branches under mine. I scratch off some bark with my paws and throw it at her./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She takes a piece of bark to the ear. She flicks her ears, but doesn't respond. Fishpaw jumps to the third branch./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now Fishpaw's five fox-lengths off the ground. If she falls, it could be fatal./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Fishpaw leaps at me, claws extended. She lets out a battle cry and scratches my other flank, but no blood comes out./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But Fishpaw misjudged her landing. She overshot the branch, and fell onto the forest floor, writhing in pain. A moment later, she went limp./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You!" Streamfoot says to me. "You killed her! Riverclaw's gonna kill you!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"So the other warrior was Riverclaw./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I can see her chest rising up and down, so clearly she wasn't dead./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Listen for a heartbeat. I can see very clearly that she is breathing fine from up here, so she isn't dead. She might've just gotten the wind knocked out of her," I say, my head spinning. She probably had a broken spine or something worse./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The two cats crowd around Fishpaw, trying to listen for her heartbeat. They squeeze against each other./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Fishpaw yowls in pain and jumps onto her paws. She crumples immediately, gasping for breath./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I crawl down the tree and see her two front paws facing odd directions. My eyes flash with fear./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Don't get up. I'll go find some herbs and try to relocate your bone. You broke your paws," I explain. I see a few comfrey leaves, and I chew them up. I tell Fishpaw that what I was going to do would hurt, but she doesn't care. I shove Fishpaw's paws back into the right direction. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She winces, but doesn't pull away./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I put some of the chewed-up comfrey onto Fishpaw's paws, causing her to flinch. "See if you can find some coltsfoot," I instruct the older warriors. Then, I describe what coltsfoot looks like./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They nod immediately and start sniffing everywhere. Soon, I have a pile of coltsfoot at my paws./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I chew it into a pulp. "Swallow this," I tell Fishpaw./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She obeys reluctantly, but her breath comes back immediately. "Thank you," she whispers./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Next time, don't go around climbing trees until you've had the proper training," I say to her./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Fishpaw tries to stand up. She hisses in pain and drops herself back onto the ground./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Your paws will need five days at least to heal. You should thank StarClan; most cats wouldn't have survived a broken spine after that kind of fall. They wouldn't have survived, even with the most experienced medicine cats by their side," I say./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Fishpaw grumbles in annoyance. "Five days? I'm going to be useless for /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"five days?!"/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" she yells./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A mouse crawls into our camp. No one bothers to catch it./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Suddenly, a cat bursts out from behind the tree that I was in, tackling me./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It's Dartwind./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What are you doing?" Dartwind says in his scratchy voice. "These cats are enemies! They're going to kill you!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I shake my head. "No. They're also our friends. I helped Fishpaw over here survive two broken paws, but it was mostly StarClan who helped her," I say, gesturing to Fishpaw with my tail./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She hisses./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Not exactly a friendly greeting," Dartwind mutters./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""She's not in a good mood right now. She can't walk for at least five days without hurting herself again," I explain. It was only then that I notice the mouse under Dartwind's right front paw. He must have caught it./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He flicks the mouse at me. "Eat up. There's plenty more."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I dig hungrily into the mouse, and I notice Fishpaw staring at it. "Want some?" I say, and I rip off a chunk, tossing it to Fishpaw./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Fishpaw shrugs. "I never could stomach mice," she says, turning away./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well, it's stomach it or starve to death. There's only one river in this arena, and there are no fish in it. The arena is made for WaterClan to have a disadvantage," Dartwind says, shrugging./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Why is that?" I ask, curious./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Because in every Game, one Clan has a disadvantage," Dartwind explains./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I sigh. Of course. Just the thing that Snakestar would do. Make sure that one Clan suffers a lot./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So are you taking the mouse or not? If you aren't, I'll eat it for you," I say to Fishpaw./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Fishpaw grumbles, but eats the mouse. Very reluctantly and slowly./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""There. Problem solved," Dartwind says./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I scent something. A cat. Not from our Clan, or WaterClan. So it's FireClan or EarthClan./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hopefully not EarthClan./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Wait here," I say to the others. "I think we have some visitors."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dartwind nods, nudging Fishpaw back down as she tries to get up again./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I creep towards the scent. As it grows stronger, I hide behind bushes more often. I peek out behind one of the bushes, and see that it's a group of FireClan and WaterClan. More FireClan than WaterClan. /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The FireClan scent must have disguised the WaterClan scent,/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" I think./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"One of the FireClan cats, a golden tabby she-cat, turns her head towards me. I duck, thinking I've been spotted, and she darts towards the bush I'm hiding behind./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I shrink back./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She slams her paws down on something. After she picks it up, I see that it's a vole./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I step out from behind the bush, acting like I didn't know they were there. "Oh! Um... Er... hi?" I say quickly, as I fake noticing them for the first time. It sounds like a normal cat accidentally running into some other cats. Decent enough./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What are you doing?" says another FireClan cat. It's a brown tom with blue eyes./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Erm... I was trying to find my Clanmates," I say. "Oh, by the way, I can show you to the other WaterClan cats. Fishpaw and two cats I don't know."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"One of the WaterClan cats exchanges a look with the brown tom./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The golden she-cat steps forward. "Take us there."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I turn around and begin walking back when someone else says something. I look over my shoulder./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""But we don't need them," says a silver she-cat. I think it's Silverwing of FireClan. Or WaterClan. I can't tell. She had sleek fur and the perfect sized paws for swimming, like WaterClan cats, but she also has the broad shoulders and strong legs of a FireClan cat. And the FireClan scent coming from all of them isn't helping./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"If she was from WaterClan, I don't think she would say that they didn't need them./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We will see," the golden cat replies calmly./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I walk away with the group of cats right behind me. I can tell they're watching me to see if this is a trick./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Which WaterClan cats do you have again?" the silver she-cat says./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Fishpaw and a few others I don't know," I repeat./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, Fishpaw," I hear her whisper to one of the WaterClan cats. "She's a daring and brave one. We should include her."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now I think the silver one is a WaterClan cat. She knows so much about Fishpaw. And she even mentioned that she was /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"daring /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"and /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"brave./spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" That's not something you hear from an enemy Clan every day./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Wait," I say. "Fishpaw broke her two front paws while trying to kill me in a tree. So, she needs at least five days to heal."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Admittedly, Fishpaw/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" is/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" daring. And brave. She leapt at me, even though she probably knew she was risking death. And she almost /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"did/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" die. She could have stayed on the ground and taken my insult, but she climbed the tree to attack me. Not brave and daring enough? I've heard rumors that she once ran away from camp when she was just three moons old. Yeah, short temper, I know, but she /spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"knew/spanspan style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" she was risking her family and might starve. Still not brave and daring enough? You have a serious problem, stranger-that-has-a-serious-problem./span/p 


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